The Queen’s House, Greenwich | The Seventeenth Century Lady The Queen’s House, Greenwich By Andrea Zuvich on |11,099 views| 4 thoughts The Queen’s House in Greenwich is located in the same area as the Old Royal Naval College, the Maritime Museum, Greenwich Park, and is a short walk away from the Greenwich Observatory and Greenwich Market. Once a royal retreat, it is now a free museum open to the enjoyment of all. I took as many photos as I could, and I hope you enjoy them. I was very fortunate that the day began cloudy only to turn into a gloriously sunny, warm day. Built for Anne of Denmark in 1616 to a design by Inigo Jones, this was the first classical building in England. After Anne died, her son’s wife, Henrietta Maria, lived here for only a few years prior to the outbreak of the English Civil War. You can read up about the history of The Queen’s House here . This was, to my shame, my first visit to The Queen’s House. I know, I know, I should have gone before, especially as I lived in London for a few years.

Let’s start off with the First Floor (Second Floor in the USA). This floor has the following: 1) History of the House 2) Historic Greenwich History of the Queen's House | Royal Museums Greenwich | UNESCO World Heritage Site In London History of the Queen's House History of the Queen's House James I gave his wife, Anne of Denmark, the gift of a building by way of apology Completed by Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I Charles I's wife Henrietta Maria took over building and decorating the Queen's House in 1629 Stunning architecture The Queen's House Greenwich was designed by Inigo Jones, and is the first Classical building in England Previous Home Queen's House History of the Queen's House History of the Queen's House Share Inigo Jones designed the beautiful Queen's House Greenwich, bringing Classical architecture to England in the process. The Queen’s House in Greenwich is one of the most interesting buildings in the country. It is important architecturally, and it is famous for its former occupants and its art collection. The Queen’s House even has its own ghost – if legend is to be believed.

Inigo Jones and Classical architecture The famous architect Inigo Jones was commissioned to design the building in 1616 by King James I’s wife, Anne of Denmark – supposedly a gift from the king to apologise for swearing in front of her after she had accidentally killed one of his favourite dogs during a hunt. Anne of Denmark never lived to see Inigo Jones’s progressive Classical design realised, dying in 1619 with only the first floor completed. It was not until 1629, when James’s son Charles I gave Greenwich to his wife Henrietta Maria, that work on it resumed. The Queen’s House was completed around 1636 and is considered remarkable for its break with the traditional, red-brick Tudor style of building, and for its elegant proportions and the high quality of its interiors. It was the first fully Classical building in England. Used by the Royal family The start of the Civil War in 1642 meant that Henrietta Maria had little time to enjoy it – she went into exile, her husband was executed and his property seized by the state, although she did eventually return after the restoration in 1660.

It was used by members of the royal family until 1805, when George III granted the Queen’s House to a charity for the orphans of seamen, called the Royal Naval Asylum. This remained until 1933, when the school moved to Suffolk. It was taken over by the National Maritime Museum in 1934. The Queen’s House today The Queen’s House is famous today for its extraordinary art collection including works by Great Masters such as Gainsborough, Reynolds, Turner and Hogarth. Its connection with artists goes all the way back to 1673, when two Dutch maritime painters the van de Veldes were given studio space by Charles II. Ghostly sightings It was first rumoured that the Queen’s House was haunted in the 1960s after a photograph taken by a tourist appeared to show one or more ghosts on the Tulip stairs. BBC - History - A History of British Architecture A History of British Architecture By Adrian Tinniswood Last updated 2011-03-29 From the Middle Ages to the 20th century, what are the influences and movements that have shaped the changing face of British architecture?

On this page Print this page The Middle Ages - 1066 and all that Architecture is about evolution, not revolution. It used to be thought that once the Romans pulled out of Britain in the fifth century, their elegant villas, carefully-planned towns and engineering marvels like Hadrian's Wall simply fell into decay as British culture was plunged into the Dark Ages. It took the Norman Conquest of 1066 to bring back the light, and the Gothic cathedral-builders of the Middle Ages played an important part in the revival of British culture. The great cathedrals and parish churches that lifted up their towers to heaven were acts of devotion in stone... However, the truth is not as simple as that. Romano-British culture - and that included architecture along with language, religion, political organisation and the arts - survived long after the Roman withdrawal. And although the Anglo-Saxons had a sophisticated building style of their own, little survives to bear witness to their achievements as the vast majority of Anglo-Saxon buildings were made of wood.

Even so, the period between the Norman landing at Pevensey in 1066 and the day in 1485 when Richard III lost his horse and his head at Bosworth, ushering in the Tudors and the Early Modern period, marks a rare flowering of British building. And it is all the more remarkable because the underlying ethos of medieval architecture was 'fitness for purpose'. The great cathedrals and parish churches that lifted up their towers to heaven were not only acts of devotion in stone; they were also fiercely functional buildings. Castles served their particular purpose and their battlements and turrets were for use rather than ornament. The rambling manor houses of the later Middle Ages, however, were primarily homes, their owners achieving respect and maintaining status by their hospitality and good lordship rather than the grandeur of their buildings. Fitness for purpose also characterised the homes of the poorer classes. Such people didn't matter very much to the ruling elite and so neither did their houses. These were dark, primitive structures of one or two rooms, usually with crude timber frames, low walls and thatched roofs. They weren't built to last. And they didn't.

Top Buildings of the Middle Ages White Tower, at the heart of the Tower of London, was begun by Bishop Gundulf in 1078 on the orders of William the Conqueror. The structure was completed in 1097, providing a colonial stronghold and a powerful symbol of Norman domination. Durham Cathedral was begun by Bishop William de St Carilef in 1093 and completed about 1175. The choir was extended in the Gothic style between 1242 and 1280. Muscular pillars and round-headed arches make Durham one of the most imposing Norman buildings in England. Haddon Hall, Derbyshire, was probably begun in the 12th century, but was remodelled and adapted at various times right through to the 16th century. It was then carefully restored in the early 20th century. Haddon shows the quality which characterises the great medieval house, in which function dictates form. King's College Chapel, Cambridge, spans the period of transition between the Middle Ages and the Tudors.

Its foundation stone was laid in 1446 by Henry VI and the structure, with its lacy perpendicular fan-vaulting, was completed by 1515 during the reign of Henry VIII. The windows were installed in 1546-7. Top The Tudors - stately and curious workmanship In a sense, the buildings of the 16th century were also governed by fitness for purpose - only now, the purpose was very different. In domestic architecture, in particular, buildings were used to display status and wealth, as William Harrison noted in his Description of England (1577): Each one desireth to set his house aloft on the hill, to be seen afar off, and cast forth his beams of stately and curious workmanship into every quarter of the country. This stately and curious workmanship showed itself in various ways. A greater sense of security led to more outward-looking buildings, as opposed to the medieval arrangement where the need for defence created houses that faced inward onto a courtyard or series of courtyards. This allowed for much more in the way of exterior ornament.

The rooms themselves tended to be bigger and lighter - as an expensive commodity, the use of great expanses of glass was in itself a statement of wealth. There was also a general move towards balanced and symmetrical exteriors with central entrances. In spite of this building boom the Renaissance was generally slow to arrive in England... In addition there was progress towards more stable and sophisticated houses for those lower down the social scale. Stone, and later brick, began to replace timber as the standard building material for the homes of farmers, tradespeople and artisans. To quote Harrison again: Every man almost is a builder, and he that hath bought any small parcel of ground, be it never so little, will not be quiet till he have pulled down the old house (if any were there standing) and set up a new after his own device. In spite of this building boom the Renaissance was generally slow to arrive in England, largely because Elizabeth's troublesome relations with Catholic Europe made the free exchange of ideas difficult. Craftsmen and pattern-books did come over from the Protestant Low Countries, but by and large our relative isolation from the European cultural mainstream led to a national style which was a bizarre though attractive mixture of Gothic and classical styles.

Top Tudor Palaces and Houses Hampton Court Palace (1515 onwards). The great house that Cardinal Wolsey began and then gave to Henry VIII in 1525, in a desperate attempt to stay in the King's favour, has undergone many changes since the 16th century. Christopher Wren rebuilt the south and east ranges for William and Mary between 1689 and 1694, and the Palace contains some remarkable Tudor work, notably Henry VIII's hammer-beamed Great Hall. Longleat House, Wiltshire, which was completed in 1580, exemplifies the confidence of Tudor craftsmen in a society that was more stable than that of their medieval ancestors. It looks outwards rather than in on itself, whilst classical detailing such as the pilasters that flank the expanses of glass, and the roundels carved with busts of Roman emperors, show that Renaissance ideas were creeping slowly into Britain during the mid 16th century. Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire (1591-97). This is the archetypal late-Elizabethan house: tall, compact and beautiful.

It was designed, probably by Robert Smythson, for Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury who was better known as Bess of Hardwick. Her descendants, the Dukes of Devonshire, made Chatsworth their principal seat, and left Hardwick more or less unscathed. A remarkable survival. Whilst Elizabethan houses in England concentrated on the conspicuous display of wealth, Scotland saw the building of castles and fortified houses continue well into the seventeenth century. In fact, fortification became a style in its own right, and the turrets and strongly vertical emphases of Scottish Baronial houses mark one of Scotland's most distinctive contributions to British architecture. Top Styles of the 17th century - a world turned upside down With the exception of Inigo Jones (1573-1652), whose confident handling of classical detail and proportion set him apart from all other architects of the period, most early 17th century buildings tended to take the innocent exuberance of late Tudor work one step further. Traditional planning was cloaked in the splendidly overblown ornament - the sort of details described at the time as 'a heap of craziness of decorations... very disgusting to see'.

But during the 1640s and 50s the Civil War and its aftermath sent many gentlemen and nobles to the Continent either to escape the fighting or, when the war was lost, to follow Charles II into exile. There they came into contact with French, Dutch and Italian architecture and, with Charles's restoration in 1660, there was a flurry of building activity as royalists reclaimed their property and built themselves houses reflecting the latest European trends. The style is heavy and rich, sometimes overblown and melodramatic. As the century wore on, this resolved itself into a passion for the Baroque grandeur which Louis XIV had turned into an instrument of statecraft at Versailles. Formal, geometrical and symmetrical planning meant that a great lord could sit in his dining chamber, at the physical as well as the metaphorical centre of his world, with suites of rooms radiating out in straight lines to either side. His gardens would reflect those lines in long, straight walks and avenues. The British Baroque was a reassertion of authority, an expression of absolutist ideology by men who remembered a world turned upside down during the Civil War.

The style is heavy and rich, sometimes overblown and melodramatic. The politics which underpin it are questionable, but its products are breathtaking. Top Buildings of the 17th century The Queens House, Greenwich, was begun for Queen Anne between 1616 and 1619 and completed for Henrietta Maria between 1630 and 1635. Greenwich Hospital was built from 1696 onwards. The Queens House is by Inigo Jones and the Hospital is largely Christopher Wren's. St Paul's Cathedral, London, (1675-1710) is not only one of the most perfect expressions of the English Baroque, but also one of the greatest buildings anywhere in England. It was designed by Wren to replace the old cathedral which had been devastated during the Fire of London in 1666. Although built in the 18th century, the ideology behind Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire lies firmly in the 17th century.

Conceived as a monumental homage to the Duke of Marlborough, whose victory over Louis XIV's army at Blenheim in Bavaria gives the palace its name, it was designed by John Vanbrugh and is the nearest thing Britain has to a Versailles Top Styles of the 18th century - rules cramp the genius To the Whigs who came to power on the accession of George I in 1714, the Baroque was inextricably linked with the authoritarian rule of the Stuarts. A new style was needed for a new age, and the new ruling class, which aspired to build a civilisation that would rival that of ancient Rome, looked for a solution in antiquity. Or so it thought. Actually, the solution was found in an antiquity which had been heavily re-interpreted by the 16th century Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508-80). Palladio's Four Books of Architecture methodically explored and reconstructed the buildings of ancient Rome.

They also provided illustrations, in the form of its author's own designs for villas, palaces and churches, of a way in which the early Georgians might adapt those rules to create an architecture of the classical tradition - the yardstick by which all civilised activity was measured. By the end of the 18th century, the idea of a single national style of architecture had had its day. But architects soon found the Palladian search for an ideal architecture pointlessly limiting. Whilst the buildings of the ancients should 'serve as models which we should imitate, and as standards by which we ought to judge', a more eclectic approach was called for. In the words of the later 18th century's greatest architect, Robert Adam, 'Rules often cramp the genius and circumscribe the idea of the master'. By the end of the 18th century, the idea of a single national style of architecture had had its day. Austere neo-classical masterpieces were still being produced; but so too were huge mock-abbeys, battlemented castles, picturesque sixteen-bedroomed cottages and even, as the 19th century dawned, oriental palaces such as John Nash's Royal Pavilion at Brighton.

The Cult of Styles had arrived. Top Buildings of the 18th century Loosely modelled on Palladio's Villa Capra, Lord Burlington's Chiswick House was one of the first shots fired in the war waged by the Georgians against the Baroque. In case anyone was slow to appreciate where Burlington's architectural allegiances lay, he had Michael Rysbrack design two statues to flank the entrance stair with Palladio on the left, and his earliest English disciple Inigo Jones on the right. Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire (1758-77), is a high point of British neo-classicism. The Palladian layout had already been established when the up-and-coming Scottish architect Robert Adam was asked to take over the project in 1760 by the owner, Sir Nathaniel Curzon. The austere, delicate interiors, with their remarkably unified decoration, show Adam at the height of his powers. Kedleston, the Glory of Derbyshire, was one of the most consistently praised of all Georgian houses. 'I am going to build a little Gothic castle at Strawberry Hill', announced Horace Walpole in 1750.

Over the next three decades Walpole transformed the uninteresting villa he had bought by the Thames at Twickenham into one of the landmarks of the Gothic Revival in Britain. Strawberry Hill aroused enormous interest - Walpole had to issue tickets to restrict the number of visitors coming to see it - and demonstrated that native medieval architecture could be every bit as valid as classicism. Top Victorian times - Merry England In the early 19th century, the French Revolution was recent enough to provide an awful example of what might happen if the upper classes lost control, whilst Peterloo and demonstrations against the Six Acts in 1819 were a reminder that it could happen here. The building classes took refuge in a fictitious past, such as the Middle Ages of Walter Scott's Ivanhoe (1819) or the romantic Elizabethan style of Kenilworth (1821). The myth of Merry England, with its strictly ordered society and its chivalric code of values, had a strong appeal for a ruling elite which felt under threat from social and political unrest at home and abroad. ...reformers like John Ruskin and William Morris made a concerted effort to return to hand-crafted, pre-industrial manufacturing techniques.

The huge glass-and-iron Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton to house the Great Exhibition of 1851, shows another strand to 19th century architecture - one which embraced new industrial processes. But it wasn't long before even this confidence in progress came to be regarded with suspicion. Mass production resulted in buildings and furnishings that were too perfect, as the individual craftsman no longer had a major role in their creation. Railing against the dehumanising effects of industrialisation, reformers like John Ruskin and William Morris made a concerted effort to return to hand-crafted, pre-industrial manufacturing techniques. Morris's influence grew from the production of furniture and textiles, until by the 1880s a generation of principled young architects was following his call for good, honest construction. Top Victorian buildings The Houses of Parliament (Charles Barry and A.W.N. Pugin, 1840-60) replaced the building destroyed by fire in 1834. A good example of the period's confused love affair with the past, it was summed up earlier this century as classic in inspiration, Gothic in detailing, and carried out with scrupulous adherence to the architectural detail of the Tudor period.

With its quiet, unassuming love for the vernacular of Kent and Sussex, and its rejection of Victorian pomposity, Philip Webb's Red House at Bexleyheath (1859-60) is the building which started the Arts and Crafts movement. It was originally designed for newly-weds William and Janey Morris. Castell Coch, near Cardiff (1872-79), is a piece of inspired lunacy by William Burges, best known for his restoration of Cardiff Castle, an opium habit and the fact that he used to relax at home with a pet parrot perched on the shoulder of his hooded medieval robe. This reconstruction of a 13th century chieftain's stronghold - right down to the working portcullis - is scholarly, at least as far as the exterior is concerned. The interior is downright weird, combining High Victorian romanticism with Burges' own eclectic drawings from ancient British history, Moorish design and classical mythology. Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art (1896-99, 1907-9) proves that there were a few dissenting voices raised against the Victorian trend to return to the past.

Mackintosh was uncompromising in his rejection of historicism, and his buildings have more in common with the vertical geometry and sinuous curves of Art Nouveau work in France, Belgium and Austria. But his decadent approach to design met with hostility in Britain and, a few years after the School of Art was completed in 1909, he gave up architecture. Top Styles of the 20th century - conservatism and change The most important trends in early 20th century architecture simply passed Britain by. Whilst Gropius was working on cold, hard expanses of glass, and Le Corbusier was experimenting with the use of reinforced concrete frames, we had staid establishment architects like Edwin Lutyens producing Neo-Georgian and Renaissance country houses for an outmoded landed class. In addition there were slightly batty architect-craftsmen, the heirs of William Morris, still trying to turn the clock back to before the Industrial Revolution by making chairs and spurning new technology.

Only a handful of Modern Movement buildings of any real merit were produced here during the 1920s and 1930s, and most of these were the work of foreign architects such as Serge Chermayeff, Berthold Lubetkin and Erno Goldfinger who had settled in this country. Local authorities, charged with the task of rebuilding city centres, became important patrons of architecture. After the Second World War the situation began to change. The Modern Movement's belief in progress and the future struck a chord with the mood of post-war Britain and, as reconstruction began under Attlee's Labour government in 1945, there was a desperate need for cheap housing which could be produced quickly. The use of prefabricated elements, metal frames, concrete cladding and the absence of decoration - all of which had been embraced by Modernists abroad and viewed with suspicion by the British - were adopted to varying degrees for housing developments and schools. Local authorities, charged with the task of rebuilding city centres, became important patrons of architecture. This represented a shift away from the private individuals who had dominated the architectural scene for centuries.

Since the War it has been corporate bodies like these local authorities, together with national and multinational companies, and large educational institutions, which have dominated British architecture. By the late 1980s the Modern Movement, unfairly blamed for the social experiments implicit in high-rise housing, had lost out to irony and spectacle in the shape of post-modernism, with its cheerful borrowings from anywhere and any period. But now, in the new Millennium, even post-modernism is showing signs of age. What comes next? Post-post-modernism? Top Buildings of the 20th century Cardiff's imposing Civic Centre is a vast complex including a City Hall and Law Courts by Lanchester & Richards, and the University College by W D Caroë. It was hailed as one of the most magnificent examples of civic planning in Britain but, in retrospect, its deeply conservative architecture also seems both arrogant and strangely out of touch with contemporary building in the rest of Europe. The De le Warr Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, is a superb expression of all that is best about the Modern Movement.

Commissioned by Lord De La Warr, mayor of Bexhill, and built by Eric Mendelsohn and Serge Chermayeff between 1933 and 1936, it was an attempt to make Bexhill as attractive as exotic French and Italian resorts. It goes without saying that it failed, but the recent restoration of the Pavilion's clean, sweeping lines is a cause for national celebration. The Royal Festival Hall (Sir Leslie Martin and the Architecture Department of the London County Council, 1951) is all that survives of the complex laid out on London's South Bank for the 1951 Festival of Britain. The festival buildings were important for the opportunity they afforded of presenting a showcase for good modern architecture and Martin's concert hall, while not exactly earth-shattering, is a timely reminder of what good festival architecture looks like. Queen's House in London, England | Expedia Queen's House in London, England | Expedia Queen's House Queen's House, current page Previous image, 12 total items. Next image, 12 total items. Queen’s House This regal residence is known for its elegant classical architecture and for the collection of nautical-themed paintings it hosts.

The former royal residence, Queen’s House, is a majestic mansion that played a huge role in the progression of architectural styles in England. Go there to appreciate its elegant classical design and to take in its stunning fine art exhibits. This building was constructed in the early 17th century for Anne of Denmark, the wife of King James I. It was among the first major works from British architect Inigo Jones, who went on to design many other notable structures including the Somerset House Chapel and the Banqueting House in Whitehall. Notice its distinctive Palladian design; it was one of the first buildings of this style in Britain. Walk along the pathway in the grounds to reach the grand entrance. Beyond the entrance lies the main hallway, which is built into a perfect cube shape. Admire the mathematical proportions of the room, which reflect Renaissance ideals about harmony and symmetry. The black-and-white marble floor dates back to 1635. Spend time inspecting the splendid Tulip Staircase that spirals up several stories. The staircase takes its names from black wrought-iron flowers that adorn the balustrade. Be sure to explore the house’s galleries. One exhibit features nautical paintings that showcase the history of the Royal Navy.

Look for the famous Battle of Trafalgar by J.M.W. Turner, as well as works by Hogarth and Gainsborough. Amble along the pleasant grounds of the adjacent Greenwich Park and look across the Thames to see the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf, one of London’s business districts. While here you may also want to visit Greenwich’s other interesting attractions, including the Royal Museums Greenwich, the National Maritime Museum Gardens and the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where Greenwich Mean Time was first calculated. The house is open daily from morning until late afternoon. Entrance is free. Check the website before you visit as parts of the house are occasionally closed for weddings. Queen’s House is situated to the south of the River Thames in Greenwich, in the southeast of London. Take the London Underground or railway from London Bridge to reach it.

Explore More of London The Queen’s House in Greenwich: 17th-century royal house re-opens to the public after £3m refurbishment | Homes and Property Design news The Queen’s House in Greenwich:17th-century royal house re-opens to the public after £3m refurbishment A 14-month renovation by award-winning gilders, carvers, painters and floor layers, plus a specially commissioned work of modern art in 23.5-carat gold leaf, has left the Queen’s House in Greenwich gleaming, glorious and open to the public once more... Thursday 20 October 2016 14:12 BST Click to follow H&P Extraordinary: this 17th-century royal house is considered one of the most important architectural buildings in Britain National Maritime Museum This extraordinary 17th-century royal house is considered one of the most important architectural buildings in Britain.

But Glen Smith, senior conservator at the Queen’s House, says: “If you’d visited the king’s presence chamber 18 months ago, you’d have found a totally lifeless interior of pale blue walls and the gilding done in gold paint.” Now that room blazes a deep, sultry “smalt” blue, smothered in pure-gold carving on the ceiling, round the cornices, and on four full-height pilasters. The house came about by accident. In 1614, while Queen Anne was out hunting, she inadvertently killed the favourite dog of her husband, James I. Painstaking work: award-winning gilders, carvers and painters restored the Queen’s House at Greenwich over 14 months (National Maritime Museum) Not surprisingly the king swore at her. To apologise for swearing, he told Anne to build herself a place for entertaining, and in 1616, she commissioned Inigo Jones, famous for designing elaborate court masques, to design a villa between Greenwich Palace and the park.

Just back from a grand tour, Jones ditched the red-brick, multiple chimney style of the nearby palace and went for a new, plain, “classical” Palladian style, England’s first such building. The queen died in 1619 when only the first floor was built. It was thatched over — the 17th-century equivalent of tarpaulin. Work began again in 1629 under Henrietta Maria and Charles I and was completed in 1638. “Rammed full of art,” according to its curator, Christine Riding, it was used for glamorous parties and fun. From the start it was known as “a house of delight”. The tulip stair: a delicate spiral in stone, the first in Britain to be built without any central support (National Maritime Museum) At the building’s heart is the great hall, a perfect cube, 40ft x 40ft x 40ft, with an elaborate geometric black-and-white marble floor based on concentric rings. A gallery runs round it supported on hefty timbers decorated with trompe-l’oeil carving.

The magnificent oak-beamed ceiling that held nine paintings by Orazio Gentileschi now holds a gold-leaf extravaganza by Turner Prize winner Richard Wright. The king’s and queen’s presence chambers were blue and red respectively, the queen’s with a coffered ceiling painted in the “grotesque” theatrical style that was all the rage. As a grand finale, Jones added an astonishingly delicate spiral stone stair down which snakes a wrought-iron decorative handrail. It was the first stair in Britain without any central support. The tulip motif was added later in the 17th century during “tulip mania” when the bulbs were traded for vast sums, giving the name “the tulip stair”. The king’s presence chamber: restoration involved expert gilding and “smalt” blue paintwork (National Maritime Museum) Paint specialist Patrick Baty has selected colours to revive the house’s splendour. He chose emulsion from Little Greene, which has a very high pigment content. In the great hall and on the staircase walls he used Portland Stone to replace the old, glaring white. It’s a pleasing colour that changes with the light.

Queen's House | Visit Royal Museums Greenwich Languages Share Come and celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Queen’s House. Inigo Jones’s architectural masterpiece has reopened after major restoration, with 22 spectacular rooms filled with great art representing 400 years. An ambitious new work in gold leaf by Turner Prize-winner Richard Wright is revealed on the Great Hall ceiling. Explore & discover Discover architectural marvels, royal history and over 450 works of art by great British and European artists The Queen's House (Greenwich) (Pepys' Diary) Queen's House Queen's House is a former royal residence built between 1616–1635 in Greenwich , then a few miles down-river from London and now a district of the city. Its architect was Inigo Jones , for whom it was a crucial early commission, for Anne of Denmark , the queen of King James I . Queen's House is one of the most important buildings in British architectural history, being the first consciously classical building to have been constructed in the country. It was Jones's first major commission after returning from his 1613–1615 grand tour [1] of Roman , Renaissance and Palladian architecture in Italy.

Some earlier English buildings, such as Longleat and Burghley House , had made borrowings from the classical style; but these were restricted to small details not applied in a systematic way, or the building may be of a mix of different styles. [2] Furthermore, the form of these buildings was not informed by an understanding of classical precedents. Queen's House would have appeared revolutionary to English eyes in its day. Jones is credited with the introduction of Palladianism with the construction of Queen's House, although it diverges from the mathematical constraints of Palladio and it is likely that the immediate precedent for the H shaped plan straddling a road is the Villa Medici at Poggio a Caiano by Giuliano da Sangallo . Today the building is both a Grade I listed building and a scheduled ancient monument , a status which includes the 115-foot-wide (35 m), axial vista to the River Thames . The house now forms part of the National Maritime Museum and is used to display parts of their substantial collection of maritime paintings and portraits. It was used as a VIP centre during the 2012 Olympic Games .

Contents 7 External links Early history The Tulip Stairs and lantern; the first centrally unsupported helical stairs constructed in England. The stairs are supported by a combination of support by cantilever from the walls and each tread resting on the one below. The Queen's House is located in Greenwich, London . It was built as an adjunct to the Tudor Palace of Greenwich , previously known, before its redevelopment by Henry VII [3] as the Palace of Placentia, which was a rambling, mainly red-brick building in a more vernacular style. This would have presented a dramatic contrast of appearance to the newer, white-painted House, although the latter was much smaller and really a modern version of an older tradition of private 'garden houses', not a public building, and one used only by the queen's privileged inner circle. Plans of the Queen's House. The salon is a 40-foot (12.2 m) cube. Construction of the house began in 1616 but work on the house stopped in April 1618 when Anne became ill and died the next year.

Work restarted when the house was given to the queen consort Henrietta Maria in 1629 by King Charles I , and the house was structurally complete by 1635. [4] [5] However, the House's original use was short – no more than seven years – before the English Civil War began in 1642 and swept away the court culture from which it sprang. Of its interiors, three ceilings and some wall decorations survive in part, but no interior remains in its original state. This process began as early as 1662, when masons removed a niche and term figures and a chimneypiece. [6] Paintings commissioned by Charles I for the house from Orazio Gentileschi , but now elsewhere, include a ceiling Allegory of Peace and the Arts, now installed at Marlborough House , London, [7] a large Finding of Moses, now on loan from a private collection to the National Gallery, London , [8] and a matching Joseph and Potiphar 's Wife still in the Royal Collection .

[9] The Queen's House, though it was scarcely being used, provided the distant focal centre for Sir Christopher Wren 's Greenwich Hospital , with a logic and grandeur that has seemed inevitable to architectural historians but in fact depended on Mary II 's insistence that the vista to the water from the Queen's House not be impaired. [10] Construction of the Greenwich Hospital The Queen's House and the Greenwich Hospital in the painting London from Greenwich Park, in 1809, by William Turner Although the House survived as an official building—being used for the lying-in-state of Commonwealth Generals-at-Sea Richard Dean (1653) and Robert Blake (1657)—the main palace was progressively demolished from the 1660s to 1690s and replaced by the Royal Hospital for Seamen , [11] built 1696–1751 to the master-plan of Sir Christopher Wren . This is now called the Old Royal Naval College, after its later use from 1873 to 1998.

The position of the House, and Queen Mary II 's order that it retain its view to the river (only gained on demolition of the older Palace), dictated Wren's Hospital design of two matching pairs of 'courts' separated by a grand 'visto' exactly the width of the House (115 ft). The whole forms an impressive architectural ensemble that stretches from the Thames to Greenwich Park and is one of the principal features that in 1997 led UNESCO to inscribe 'Maritime Greenwich' as a World Heritage Site . 19th Century additions From 1806 the House itself was the centre of what, from 1892, became the Royal Hospital School for the sons of seamen. This necessitated new accommodation wings , and a flanking pair to east and west were added and connected to the House by colonnades from 1807 (designed by London Docks architect Daniel Asher Alexander ), with further surviving extensions up to 1876. In 1933 the school moved to Holbrook, Suffolk .

Its Greenwich buildings, including the House, were converted and restored to become the new National Maritime Museum (NMM), created by Act of Parliament in 1934 and opened in 1937. The grounds immediately to the north of the House were reinstated in the late 1870s following construction of the cut-and-cover tunnel between Greenwich and Maze Hill stations. The tunnel comprised the continuation of the London and Greenwich Railway and opened in 1878. The Queen's House viewed from the foot of Observatory Hill, showing the original house (1635) and the additional wings linked by colonnades (1807) Recent years The Queen's House, Greenwich [12] The House underwent a 14-month restoration beginning in 2015, and reopened on Oct. 11, 2016. One controversial feature was a new ceiling in the main hall created by artist Richard Wright, a Turner prize winner. The House was further restored between 1986 and 1999, with contemporary insertions that modernised the building.

In some quarters, it provoked some debate: An editorial in The Burlington Magazine , November 1995, alluded to "the recent transformation of the Queen's House into a theme-park interior of fake furniture and fireplaces, tatty modern plaster casts and clip-on chandeliers". [13] It is now largely used to display the Museum's substantial collection of marine paintings and portraits of the 17th to 20th centuries, and for other public and private events. It is normally open to the public daily, free of charge, along with the other museum galleries and the 17th-century Royal Observatory, Greenwich , which is also part of the National Maritime Museum. London Olympic Games, 2012 The grounds behind the Queen's House were used to house a stadium for the equestrian events of the Olympic Games in 2012. [14] The modern pentathlon was also staged in the grounds of Greenwich Park . The Queen's House itself was used as a VIP centre for the games. Work to prepare the Queen's House involved some internal re-modelling and work on the lead roof to prepare it for security and camera installations.

Notes ^ The phrase 'Grand Tour' was unknown until approximately 1670, but in essence, Jones's tour of Germany, Italy and France, incorporated many of the elements of the later tour. ^ The Queen's House at Greenwich reopens after £3m restoration | Art and design | The Guardian Architecture The Queen's House at Greenwich reopens after £3m restoration The first purely classical English house now features gold leaf work by the Turner prize winner Richard Wright Artist Richard Wright was commissioned to create a gold leaf fresco in the Great Hall as part of the restoration. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA Tuesday 4 October 2016 09.23 EDT Last modified on Tuesday 4 October 2016 17.00 EDT Close This article is 3 months old For true authenticity, Anne of Denmark’s beautiful white house in Greenwich, which reopens after a £3m restoration, should really have a stream of traffic running through it.

When, 400 years ago the queen commissioned a brilliant young architect called Inigo Jones to build her the first purely classical house in England, a shockingly modern creation instead of the warren of red brick buildings of the Tudor palace down by the riverside, the only minor inconvenience was that the main road, now a colonnaded walkway, ran right through it. Jones’s solution was to build the house as the grandest bridge in England over the road, which was enclosed in 10ft walls to protect the royal privacy. Pinterest The Queen’s House is part of the Royal Museums Greenwich in London. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP The house, now part of the Royal Museums Greenwich complex, reopens with a dazzling art collection including many pictures that originally hung there returning on loan, among them a huge painting by Orazio Gentileschi from the Royal Collection, which Henrietta Maria and Charles I commissioned for the house in the 17th century.

The new hang also includes hundreds of paintings from the Greenwich collection, including works by Canaletto, Hogarth, Romney and Stubbs, and the magnificent Armada portrait of Elizabeth I, once owned by Sir Francis Drake, which the museum acquired this summer through a public appeal. Pinterest The Tulip Stairs, the first cantilevered stairs built in Britain. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP Pride of place, however, in the centre of the grandest room, the double-height Great Hall, has gone to a newly created work, the largest to date by the Turner prize winner Richard Wright, which looks as if a cloud of golden moths has settled all over the ceiling and upper walls. It took nine weeks for Wright and a team of assistants to apply the 23-carat gold scrolls and flourishes, inspired by Inigo Jones designs for court masques and the beautiful metalwork of his spiral staircase in the house, directly on to the walls. “For many years, displays in this house have concentrated on its connection with the maritime museum,” its curator Christine Riding said.

“We wanted to do something that had nothing to do with the sea, but recreated some of the princely splendour originally associated with the house.” The house, inspired by the Italian villas of Andrea Palladio, who in turn was inspired by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius, has been described by Jane Sidell of Historic England as “arguably the most important building in the entire canon of British architectural history”. Pinterest The Great Hall in the Queen’s House. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP Riding said the style was also politically significant. “Anne was trying to create a sophisticated, educated, European-minded court here, a rival to that of James I. It is a question where she could ever have seen such buildings before, but she certainly saw the drawings and books Jones brought back from Italy.” If Anne walked back into the house today, she would recognise many of the features she planned with the architect, but she never saw it in life. Work stopped for several years after she became ill in 1618, and she died in 1619.

Her house wasn’t completed until 1638, for another immigrant queen, the French Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I – and with his execution it would be stripped by the Commonwealth of many of its royal fittings, leaving only the beautiful shell of the most modern house in England. The Queen’s House at Greenwich reopens to the public from 11 October, admission free.

Question: Who designed the 'Queen's House' at Greenwich, in the early 17th century?
Answer: INIGO JONES